Friends,
For this next Thursday, Oct. 23 sit, we’re to be graced with a teaching by Bhante Chandraratana, a Sri Lankan monk who is visiting the United States.
There are lots of things unusual about this visit: This is the first time Eastside Insight has been visited by a monk from Sri Lanka, a great honor for all of us. In particular here we’d like to thank longtime friend and colleague Chitra Ellegala, who is also of Sri Lankan origin, and who extended this invitation to Eastside Insight.
Also unusual is that the sit will be Oct. 23, thus the fourth Thursday of the month, and not the third Thursday, which would have been Oct. 16. To say it another way, the Oct. 16 sit has been cancelled and moved to Oct. 23, so don’t show up this Thursday! Last, this will be the last Eastside Insight sit on a Thursday, because we’re moving to Tuesdays starting in November. More about that below.
The title of Bhante’s talk will be “Freedom from Conceptual Proliferation.”
In his talk he will be exploring papancha, the Pali word for the way our minds can link one thought to the next in an endless stream. Papancha becomes apparent during meditation, as does the power of mindfulness to bring insight to it.
Bhante calls this the “static and dynamic aspects of papañca (conceptual proliferation).
He writes:
“We often tend to think too much, and sometimes we don't know how this process works, even though we become a victim of it. During the Dhamma sermon, static and dynamic aspects of papañca will be discussed with sutta references.”
Here is a biography of Bhante Chandraratana:
“Born in Sri Lanka, Bhante began his journey in engineering and computer science before ordaining as a Buddhist monk in 2008. He holds degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, and worked in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and the United States, before dedicating his life to the Dhamma.
"Today, he serves as the deputy abbot of Nissarana Vanaya Forest Monastery in Sri Lanka, a center internationally recognized for intensive meditation practice. Bhante’s teachings combine meditative depth with modern understanding. His calm presence, analytical approach, and compassion guide students toward mindfulness, clarity, and insight. His retreats and Dhamma talks—offered both locally and abroad—reflect his commitment to making ancient wisdom relevant to modern life.”
We’ll be gathering at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, the fourth Thursday of this month. There will be no sit this third Thursday, Oct. 16 .
The URL for the evening will be https://tinyurl.com/Eastside-Insight-2025, or please come in person to the chapel at Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, 315 3rd Ave S., Kirkland, WA 98033. Please note that the chapel is the smaller church building behind the main sanctuary, both of them parallel along Kirkland’s State Street.
Parking behind the chapel may be snug due to an event in the sanctuary, so please consider parking on nearby streets on in the free public lot under the Kirkland Library, a five-minute walk away.
If you’re coming by bus, the library is adjacent to the Kirkland Transit Center, just a five-minute walk to Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church. From the transit center you can catch the 255 bus to Seattle, the 250 to Redmond, the 230 to Bothell, and the 250 and 245 to Bellevue.
Please consider offering dana to Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, which makes this space available on a dana-only basis, in a very kind and generous way. If you do, please mention you’re from Eastside Insight Meditation.
https://tinyurl.com/NorthlakeUU-Paypal2022
Here's how to offer dana to the Bhante Chandraratana’s mission, establishing Nissarana Buddhist Monastery, USA.
He writes:
“Join us in building a sacred space for mindfulness, peace, and spiritual awakening.
Nissarana Buddhist Monastery, USA is envisioned as a sanctuary for Dhamma
practice, supporting both lay and monastic communities in the path of liberation.
Your contribution will help establish a lasting refuge for current and future
generations to learn and practice the Buddha's path. Every offering—great or small—is a precious gift to the Saṅgha and to the world.”
Here’s a link to donate to that effort, to offer dana to it.
Big bows to the kind sangha members who help set up for Thursday evenings. It’s hugely helpful when you can help set up, and when you sign up to help. Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18OKEUO7ubunOG_q9r8MaBFWXqmWScOm4LIsv8MdnBU8/edit
Looking ahead, a request for volunteers, and November schedule change:
Our yearly Eastside daylong will be Saturday, Nov. 8, on the subject of bringing the four foundations of mindfulness alive in daily life. Here’s a link to the daylong, so please volunteer to help, and please sign up for the daylong and and share with friends! https://seattleinsight.org/event/bringing-the-four-foundations-of-mindfulness-alive-in-daily-life-in-person-and-online/.
Eastside Insight will be moving to 1st and 3rd Tuesday evenings starting in November. This is to benefit more people in the community, because the SIMS Thursday evening sit and now Jason Bartlett’s Luminous Dharma are both on Thursdays, and there’s no Seattle-area sit in this tradition on Tuesday evenings.
May you find happiness and balance, in the midst of complexity. May your hearts be at ease.
With love and light,
Steve Wilhelm